INTRODUCTION Close-to-community (CTC) providers, including community health workers or volunteers or health extension workers, can be effective in promoting access to and utilization of health services. Tasks are often shifted to these providers with limited resources and support from CTC programmes or communities. The Community Health System Strengthening (CHSS) model is part of an improvement...

An exploratory qualitative case study investigated how different sectors of a highly industrialized community mobilized in the 1990s to help workers exposed to asbestos. For this study, thirty key informants including representatives from industry, workers, the community, and local politicians participated in semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The analysis was framed by a "Dimensions ...

In the 21st Century, distinctions and boundaries between global health, international politics, and the broader interests of the global community are harder to define and enforce than ever before. As a result, global health workers, leaders, and institutions face pressing questions around the nature and extent of their involvement with non-health endeavors, including international conflict reso...

Amid widespread shortages of health care workers, the role of community health workers (CHWs) has gathered more attention as a way to make primary health care services more available at the community level. In Uganda, as in many countries, volunteer CHWs could be especially important for extending family planning services to underserved populations in rural areas. In Uganda, the latest Demograp...

In 1999, community health workers informed us that large numbers of immigrants and refugees lived and often worked in our Scarborough, Ont, community while being denied access to publicly funded health care. Our inquiries uncovered empirical evidence that Scarborough’s uninsured experienced health care access inequities, health disparities, financial hardships, and delayed acculturation. Scarbo...

(known locally as a 'lady health workers') have formed the backbone of the primary health care system for the past fifteen years. These women are members of the communities they serve and are responsible for 150–200 households (around 1,000 people) each. They provide primary health care with a focus on reproductive health and family planning. During the day, lady health workers visit women at t...

INTRODUCTION Health workers at the primary level are well positioned to provide health information and counselling on child feeding to mothers on antenatal visits. The study was designed to evaluate the effect of training on the knowledge, attitudes and provision of infant and young child feeding (IYCF) information and counselling among primary healthcare (PHC) workers. METHODS A two-stage cl...

BACKGROUND The shortage of health professionals in low income countries is recognized as a crisis. Community health workers are part of a "task-shift" strategy to address this crisis. Task shifting in this paper refers to the delegation of tasks from health professionals to lay, trained volunteers. In Kenya, there is a debate as to whether these volunteers should be compensated, and what motiva...

BACKGROUND There is evidence that if a health professional is active and has a healthy diet, he/she is more likely to advise patients about the benefits of physical activity and healthy eating The aims of this study were to: (1) describe the personal physical activity, consumption of fruits and vegetables behaviors and nutritional status of community health workers; (2) evaluate the association...